Ratatouille's Remy Interpreted as Gay Symbol

Today (Thursday) at UCLA, Laure Murat of the Department of French and Francophone Studies is giving a lecture "Queering Ratatouille: A Rat Reclaiming French Cuisine" that explores the topic of Ratatouille as the story of a homosexual coming out, reports the LA Times'Daily Dish blog.

The lecture will delve into Remy's embodiment of "the lonely gay, both refined and the object of disgust, excluded and successful" and the film as "the story of the Oedipus conflict, mixed with issues of race and species.... If 'anyone can cook,' any queer guy has a role to play in this world -- at least in Paris."

It's kind of reach, yeah, but we can sort of see it: Remy's self-discovery, trying to belong, breaking taboos, etc. could be interpreted through a gay prism.